This West Side diner will never grow old. (Try the gyro pizza)
At Santorini Family Restaurant, Gary Liles takes a seat at a table and orders the breakfast special – two eggs and goetta, home fries, one hotcake, toast and a coffee – for just $9.95. Gary, who lives in Sayler Park, just returned from a doctor's appointment in Cheviot and figured he'd stop by while he was in the neighborhood. He's grown smitten with this place since a friend introduced it to him about four years ago. He likes the value. He likes the service, too. His server, Janie, treats Gary better than any doctor ever could, calling him hon, making sure he's comfortable and has everything he needs.
This is what I've always liked about Santorini, the 20-year-old Greek diner in Cheviot. Its old-school vibe fits the criteria of every great diner I've ever known. The coffee is good and cheap, the eggs are always cooked perfectly. The piped-in music – which can range from Tom Petty to "She's Like the Wind"-era Patrick Swayze – is always at the right level and the service is top-notch enough to leave you feeling better about life than you did when you walked in.
The menu is a combination of Greek diner classics, including gyros, spanakopita, Greek salads and a mild but beefy Cincinnati-style chili that's served in all of its familiar forms and iterations. There's also a fantastic gyro pizza that I raved about a few years ago as one of the best things I ate in 2020.
Like most Greek diners, over the years, Santorini has added a few very non-Greek items to keep up with the times, including a delicious little Philly cheesesteak with crunchy, coarsely chopped green peppers served on a pillow-soft bun, and a barbecue fried chicken salad.
When Dorie Hall arrives to take my order, I ask if they still have the moussaka I saw posted on their Facebook page a few weeks ago (I woke up that day craving moussaka), but she said it was a special and not on their regular menu.
No worries. Instead, I opt for the gyro omelet, which, Hall assures me, is one of the diner's most popular items. It doesn't look like much when it arrives at my table ? just a big ol' slab of egg on a stark white oval plate. But after one bite, I understood its appeal. The egg itself is as thin and delicate as a Swedish pancake, giving way to salty, creamy feta, seasoned gyro meat, tzatziki sauce and fresh tomatoes.
When it comes to atmosphere and vibe, Santorini's Greek pedigree is apparent the moment you walk in. There are paintings of Greek islands, including the restaurant's namesake of Santorini. The walls are painted varying shades of Mediterranean blue. Framed articles and photos are everywhere. The most touching of those photos is a portrait of Rickey Lee York, a former Santorini dishwasher who passed away in 2020. "Memories are a gift to treasure and ours of you will last forever," an inscription below the photograph reads.
Santorini has changed hands as well as names in the past few decades, though it's remained in the same family since 1982. What started as Nick & Tana's Family Restaurant in 1982 begat Eleni's Family Restaurant in 1998 and finally, Santorini Family Restaurant in 2004. Through it all, "family" had remained the restaurant's middle name.
The current owners of the diner are George and Gina Denas, as well as their children, Dorie ? whom I mentioned above ? and Bobby. The Denas family is related to the owners of several other Greek establishments in and around Cincinnati, including J&J diner, Zorba's Greek Restaurant, Rootie's Brickhouse bar and Grammas Pizza. Combined, they are part of a restaurant dynasty that deserves to be mentioned alongside the LaRosas, the Rubys and the Daouds as one of the city's most influential.
While Gina Denas used to work here about 90 hours a week, a debilitating stroke she suffered about 12 years ago left her unable to do so. Since then, Dorie and Bobby have worked with their father to keep the place running.
That's been a challenge as of late. A lot of customers never came back after the pandemic, Hall tells me. More recently, road construction on Harrison Avenue has turned the place into what she described as "a ghost town," though the lull didn't stop the family from doing a complete exterior makeover this year ? replacing the diner's faded blue awning, painting its weathered brick and outfitting its facade with handsome faux-stonework.
Despite its various struggles, it's good to see Santorini looking toward the future. There aren't too many places like it left these days. On the East Side, where I live, there are practically none at all. That's probably why I find myself driving to the West Side so often.
There's always something surprising there ? some hole-in-the-wall diner I've never heard of before, some beloved butcher shop or bakery so good that I start looking at real estate listings. Santorini is one of those places. And no matter if you're in the neighborhood for a doctor's appointment or just longing for something you thought disappeared long ago, it's well worth a visit.
Santorini Family Restaurant, 3414 Harrison Ave., Cheviot, 513-662-8080.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Santorini Family Restaurant: A Cheviot diner that will never grow old
